By Etta Washburn, Staff Editor
On January 20, 2022, the Bryn Mawr College COVID Operations Team held a Zoom meeting with Dorm Leadership Team members (DLT) and other student leaders to discuss and clarify the new regulations in place at the college.
The meeting began with Medical Services Director Beth Kotarski describing the unprecedented nature of this call. “I just wanted to frame this by saying that I didn’t think that, after two years of the pandemic, that we would be gathering and talking about such new information,” she said. “I acknowledge how exhausting and challenging it’s been. I get the concerns and the desperation for new information, and we’re here to help you wade through the science.”
It’s hard to feel comforted by the recitation. It’s been nearly two years of Zoom meetings and guidelines and adjustments. This isn’t unprecedented to us anymore, it’s normal. Introductions like these are supposed to affirm for students that the administration knows how difficult this is for us; that they see us and are doing what they can to keep us safe. So often, though, these speeches are followed by actions that contradict them; that show, in fact, they aren’t committed to doing what it takes to protect us from COVID. Most of the time, these speeches aren’t administration telling us they know how difficult this is for us—it’s administration asking us to recognize how difficult this is for them.
And it has been difficult for them. New variants keep developing, medical advice keeps changing, and institutions are usually working to implement protocol based on guidance that will be obsolete within the month. It’s been incredibly hard for the Operations Team to do their job. When asked if they were planning to record the Zoom session, Associate Dean of Health and Wellness Reggie Jones responded, “The information is changing so quickly. We can record with the understanding that tomorrow, something could be very different with COVID, and these answers and the conversation we’re having today may be actually old news.”
This uncertainty is evident in their guidelines. Tentatively, they lay out the plan for students who contract COVID: reach out to your Hall Advisor, who will call the Residential Life Coordinator to begin the process for moving infected students with roommates into isolation housing in Wyndham. If students don’t have roommates, they are to isolate themselves in their rooms, use designated “COVID bathrooms,” and coordinate with friends or DLT to get meals delivered. In both cases, the responsibility lies with students to notify close contacts of potential exposure and to reach out to the Health Center to develop a spread mitigation plan.
Regarding mandates for non-infected students, Bryn Mawr administration heavily stresses the need to mask in public spaces. Still, these rules are far from comprehensive. When asked about precautions taken in the dining halls, Jones first inquired whether indoor dining was allowed in dining halls and then said, “We’re really encouraging you to eat outside.”
Given the cold weather, this option doesn’t seem to be particularly popular. What’s more concerning, though, is the apparent disconnect between the experiences of the students and the rules students are being asked to follow. Every Bryn Mawr student knows that indoor dining is available. The fact that the faculty in charge of creating the regulations are missing this piece of information demonstrates a fundamental problem in communication between Bryn Mawr administration and students. The faculty developing the COVID plans aren’t living the same lives as the students that follow them, and the students are asked to comply without having the opportunity to express what would work best for them.
This isn’t for lack of trying, either. About halfway through the meeting, the administrators opened up the forum for questions. Students on the call expressed uncertainty about some of the measures in place.
One student remarked, “I’m just concerned about not regularly testing because we may not have accurate COVID numbers, and people who are asymptomatic might contract and then give to people who become symptomatic because we have an open campus and we’re not regularly testing.” At first, the administration on the call defended their position. “There are studies that are showing why aggressive asymptomatic testing is not recommended as a mitigation strategy,” Kotarsky said “At the end of the day, public health is about mitigating disease, and the best way to do that is through masking and contact tracing symptomatic people.”
But as students continued to question this strategy, the administration became less responsive. One student recounted a time she found out she had COVID through exposure testing after being asymptomatic for days. When she expressed concern that lack of testing would lead to more cases like hers and further COVID spread, she was met with a dismissive, “Ok. Thank you. Next question,” from Jones. Statements from students who attended the meeting showed a general lack of trust in administration to make decisions that will keep the community safe. “We just started the semester and Bryn Mawr has already had more students test positive than in previous semesters, said Marianela Luna-Torrado BMC ‘24, a Customs Person in Pembroke East. “I am not confident in the college’s ability to mitigate the spread of COVID-19,”. This is hardly surprising, since Bryn Mawr’s COVID task force offers few chances for student input, and when they do, they are quick to disregard students’ concerns.
So while the administrators have been dealt a rough hand, and recognizing their frustration and exhaustion with the pandemic is necessary, aren’t we owed the same grace in return? There are Bryn Mawr students who are immunocompromised, who can’t access at-home tests, who don’t have an hour and a half to spend on hold with the Health Center. There are professors who need to stay home with young children with COVID, who are barred from holding classes online. Don’t they also deserve our understanding? As the COVID situation continues to evolve, it will be on administrators to make sure policies keep students and faculty best interests at heart. Bryn Mawr students can be as loud as they want, but it is ultimately up to the administration to listen.
Photo Credit: Bryn Mawr College
